After the thrill is gone
by embers of pain
Summary: Just a night out with a fellow greaser. Or so Ponyboy and Johnny thought, but what happens when they hang out with Tim Shepard's little bother, Curly? Will two of our favorite greasers be okay, or will thing's get out of control? Plus what happens when an unexpected visitor makes his own kind of trouble for the Curtis brothers?
1. Chapter 1

_**Ok here is a new story, from mwah. I really hope you guy's enjoy this... Thanks yet again to my beta, Glimfire for helping me edit this story. You're awsome! **_

Chapter: 1

Ponyboy's Pov

I was walking home from school with Johnny by my side. As usual we're pretty quiet, but that's what I like about him. He doesn't see the need to always be talking about things. He was good just being quiet which was fine by me; in fact I really preferred it.  
>"Hey Curtis, Cade." A voice called from behind me and I turned with Johnny to see Curly Shepard coming up behind us.<br>"Hey Shepard." I said and Johnny nodded his greeting.  
>"So, I was wondering if you guys had any plans for tonight." Curly said as he caught up with us, and we started walking again.<br>"Well… I don't." I replied with a shrug. "And I don't think Johnny does either." Looking at him, I saw Johnny shake his head to confirm that I was right.  
>"But it's Friday night, you guys can't just sit at home doing nothing."<br>"Who said we were doing nothing?" I asked. "We'll probably play football or something."  
>"Football?" Curly asked in disbelief. "You can play that any night of the week, Friday is the time for hanging out around town or going to parties."<br>Again I shrugged as we neared my house.  
>"You guy's should come hang out with me tonight, neither of us have anything better to do, I'm sure we'll find something to do." I found it kinda weird that Curly was asking me to do something with him. It's not that I don't like him, it's just we normally we hang out with our own gangs.<br>"I don't know Curly…I can't get in any trouble, if me or Soda get caught we could go to a boy's home, and I'm sure as heck don't want to go to one of those."  
>"Oh we don't get in trouble let's just hanging out go see a move or something."<br>"Well…"  
>"Come on Curtis, you can't sit at home all the time, like a baby who needs to hold his older brothers hand all day."<br>"I don't."  
>"Prove it and come." Giving me a grin, he got in front of me so I had to stop walking. Because he knew I was hesitant, he had turned it into a challenge. Since he knew I would never back down from one, even one as stupid as this one. After all I had taken that challenge to see who was tougher, when we had played chicken by holding our lit cigarettes to each others fingers. Both waiting for the other to lose, by hollering in pain.<br>"Fine I'll come." I answered, rolling my eyes, and walking around him.  
>Laughing he followed. "Good, Hey Cade you coming too?"<br>"Uh, yeah I'll come." Johnny answered quietly.  
>"Then I'll meet the two of you at the Dingo at seven."<br>"We'll be there." I replied, and he nodded walking away.  
>"What did you get us into Ponyboy?" Johnny asked when Curly was out of ear shot.<br>"Nothing, we're just going to go hang out with Curly tonight. You know you didn't have to come if you didn't want to." I said kicking a rock across the ground.  
>"I know…" He looked down with a small smile which made me grin. I put my hand on his shoulders and said. "I'm glad you're coming with me."<br>We walked up the porch steps and walked inside, throwing our beat up backpacks on the floor.  
>"You want something to eat?" I asked heading into the kitchen.<br>"Yeah, sure, you mind if I just hang out here till seven?"  
>"No, not at all, you know you're welcome here anytime Johnnycake."<br>"I know… but I just wanted to make sure." Grinning I grabbed turkey, cheese, and lettuce from the fridge while Johnny grabbed a few slices of bread and set them on two paper towels.  
>The front door opened and Two-Bit came him yelling. "Hey, Anyone here?"<br>"In here Two-Bit." I called. He came into the kitchen with a grin on his face  
>"Awe, are you making turkey sandwiches?" He came up behind me and looked over my shoulder. Then reached above my head and grabbed the sandwich I had just finished taking a huge bite out of it.<br>"Really?" I asked, not able to keep the smile off my face. "Johnny can you get me more bread?"  
>Grinning, he got two more slices and handed them to me, and helped me finish up making the food and putting the stuff away. Walking out into the living room, where Two-Bit already had on Mickey Mouse; we sat down on the floor leaning against the couch.<br>"So how was school for you guys today?" Two-Bit asked.  
>"Not much, just the same old thing again." Johnny replied.<br>"Mrs. Crab-Apple yelled at you again?"  
>"No, Pony and I are working together so she's no mad at me not getting stuff right now." That was true; Mrs. Applewood had been getting frustrated with Johnny since we started school this year. She taught really fast even for me, and poor Johnny had trouble grasping things that were thrown at him in a class where the teacher actually stopped for breath, much less one who talked so fast lightning looked like it was in slow motion.<br>"Well at least she's leaving you alone, what about you Pony?"  
>"I got an A on my math test."<br>Sighing Two-Bit shook his head, "I've never understood how you can stand reading and studying so much... actually just how you work in general."  
>Laughing I looked up at him, "Well most people work harder then you Two-Bit."<br>"Very true."  
>We continued to watch TV until Darry and Sodapop, as soon as they came in I asked if I could go with Johnny to meet Curly. Reluctantly he had agreed though, he said if I got in one bit of trouble I would ground for months on end. Promising I wouldn't get into any trouble, that I just wanted to hang out for a few hours, he went to start dinner while Johnny and I went to do our homework. One of the conditions Darry had had for us if we wanted to go, also for me to be back by ten and no later. Luckily we had very little work to do so both of us where done within a fifteen minutes. Of course by then Two-Bit had gone home and Darry was cooking dinner. We were having hamburgers, with barbeque chips, and a salad Soda had made. With four Guys eating we finished everything, and then Johnny and I were off to the Dingo. When we got there Curly was already waiting for us talking to a group of other guys.<br>"Hey, you two actually came." He said when he saw us walking towards him.  
>"Of course we came." I said, putting my hands in my jean pockets.<br>"I thought you would, but you never know. Course I never knew you to back away from something you say you're going to do."  
>"That's 'cause I don't."<br>Grinning Curly started walking and I came up next to him with Johnny on my other side.  
>"You guy's got anything you want to do?" He asked.<br>"I don't." I answered. Johnny pulled out a pack of cigarettes and put one between his lips then offered us one. Both me and Curly took one, lighting up. We started heading towards Sutton, normally you can find someone down that street, and we did. We started talking to all the greasers we knew, just stopping to chat on the street or jumping into the back of cars. We did this for a good hour, before a guy pulled up in a blue car. Curly grinned, and went over to him, as he got out.  
>"Here Shepard." He said holding out a set of keys. "It's all yours as soon as you pay up" reaching into his back pocket, Curly pulled out a few bills, and handed them over to the guy, who gave up the keys. Not another word was said as each boy went in opposite directions.<br>"Get in you two." Curly said to me, and Johnny, as he motioned to the car. When neither of us moved a grin broke out on his face. "What's wrong boys? You guy's chicken?"  
>"Of course not." I answered; no way was anyone going to call me chicken. Slowly i got into the car, Johnny following. We had a reputation to keep, even if it was a small one. The last thing you needed was everyone thinking you were a baby.<br>"You had me worried there for a minute Curtis." Curly said, getting into the driver's seat, and starting the car. "For a second I thought you were going to be a little baby and run away."  
>"You should know I wouldn't chicken out, I thought I had proven that before."<br>"Hey, you never know now of days, but as long as you don't prove me wrong... I'll say you're not a baby."  
>"Good and you better remember it." I said my stomach tightening into knots as Curly started driving. At first it was pretty slow, and I started to calm down. That is until; another car pulled up beside us and revved up. Doing the same Curly, grinned. Again and again they both did this, challenging one another to a race. Looking back at Johnny I saw he was pale. We both loved races, but neither one of us wanted to be in one with Curly Shepard driving. Before either of us could do anything, Curly and the other car pulled up to the beginning of the long strip of road to race on. People were gathering around now, and before I knew it we were thrown against our seats as the race began...<p>

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	2. Chapter 2

**Okay the second chapter is here! Yay lets have a party! Okay well first off I hope you enjoy this chapter... i'll let you read and go though all of what i was about to say at the end. So happy reading! At least I hope thats the case.**

Chapter: 2

Ponyboy's POV

Gripping the edge of my seat, I dug my finger nails into the rough fabric. The car was well on its way to going sixty on the road and every intersection we passed I found myself letting out a shallow breath of relief in finding no other vehicles starting to drive across our path. Curly had a grin of him face and a wild look in his eyes, which reminded me why I didn't hang out with him much. The world was flying by us, and disappearing into the night behind, yet still the car we were racing was a good 10 yards in front of us. Swearing between his teeth, Curly pressed his foot harder against the gas pedal, making our engine roar louder. Even once we were doing eighty the other was still ahead of us.

Soon I stopped looking out the window, and stared at my feet. The outside world was passing by too quickly and the lights zooming by were giving me a head ach. Still that didn't stop the blinding white light from come in through the corner of my eye. I looked at Curly's face, and saw it was illuminate with a glowing paleness. Time slowed as I swung my head around and looked out my window at the blinding light, just before the impact. My head slammed against the glass a second before it shattered. The crashing of metal on metal filled my ears, as I was jerked around, the only think keeping me in my seat was the seat belt I had put on. At first I hadn't known why I had done it (I've never really cared if I had my seatbelt on, and because of that never thought of putting it one), but before I had taken it off again it served it purpose at keeping me semi in the same place. Glass was all around me and I felt it scratching, and tearing at my skin. My ears rang as everything around me swirled, and my last thought before I passed out was that this had to be a dream…

Two-Bit's POV

"I've got five bucks on Steve." I said standing beside the table Sodapop and Steve were arm wrestling at.

"Well you're going to lose money." Soda said through clenched teeth as he battled to gets Steve's arm to touch the wooden surface.

"No he ain't." Steve replied in a similar way, trying to force a grin, but losing it in only a few seconds as he fought the others attempt to conquer him.

"I'm putting five on Soda." Dally said in a lazy tone sitting on the couch smoking a cigarette. He had been starring at the clock on the wall as long as he had been at the Curtis's house, like he was worried about something. Although when Darry had asked him what was bugging him, Dally simply looked at him, with a hard exasperation, and demanded if keeping track of time meant something was wrong. His eyes had gone cold, and they dared anyone to say something against him, so Darry had left him alone.

"Now we have ourselves a real bet." I said, with a grin, happy I had gotten Dally to say something, and that someone was betting against me. It always made things a little more interesting when you had two people betting against the opposite teams. I mean what was the fun of winning if someone else you going against didn't lose? Like my mama always said, "If you don't have a loser then how do you know who the winner is?"

When the phone rang none of us really heard it-or cared-as Darry walked over to answer it. After all it's not like it was anything special. It was just a call, and you get plenty of those all the time. Nothing out of the ordinary… or so we had though, but when Darry yelled, "Will you all shut up so I can hear?" everything went silent instantly. I looked over at him, and saw his face was hard and serious and after being around him for so long everyone knew that was how he looked when he was worried. He muttered a few words before he hung up, and turned to us. "Ponyboy and Johnny are in the hospital." He said

Sodapop instantly paled, and Steve's figure turned hard. I felt my stomach give a flip flop.

"There what?" Dally demanded jumping to his feet.

"They were in a car wreck." Darry said heading to the door. "The Sheppard kid was driving with Pony in the passenger seat, and Johnny in the back and someone T boned them. Now there in the hospital." He flung the front door open and it hit the wall with a thud, as he started walking out to the truck, and we were all right behind him. Being the last one, I closed the door, and hopped into the truck. I think just then was the fastest I've ever seen Darry drive, but then his baby brother was hurt, and most likely all that was going through his mind was that he had to get to him. I know that's what I would be thinking if something happened to my little sister, that and that someone was going to die for letting something like that happen to her while she was with them…

**Sooooooo... What did you think? Review please I really really would like to know what went through your head when you read this. Was it' "Man this story sucks!", "This is a good story, although I have read better", "I love this story!", or possibly something different. Also any flames are exsepted, as are any coments. I play with fire so give you your best shot. On the other hand you could leave nice things to which are even better... just saying... Well fare well until next time.**


	3. Chapter 3

_**Next chapter up! Hey guys, sorry it has taken so long but I've been busy the last little bit, and if I wanted to be honest about it I'd tell you I kind of forgot about this story along with my others. All in the past though because I'm back! Mwahahaha! So just wanted to take a second and thank all of you for your reviews, it always makes my day to get them. Keep up the good work. Now to get back to the story…**_

Chapter: 3

Sodapop POV

I was out of the truck as soon as Darry slowed down enough to crookedly park in two of the narrow, empty spaces that were almost at the end of the nearly full parking lot. My feet were moving the instant they hit pavement, propelling my body towards the glass doors that slid open to the sides. Darry was now right next to me as we approached the front desk, both of us sliding a little on the hard floor as we stopped.

"Whoa there boys," The young nurse standing a few feet from us said. "Where's the fire?"

"I need to know where two boys are, they were in a car accident." Darry answered.

"Names?"

"Ponyboy Curtis and Johnny Cade."

"You wouldn't happen to be Darrel Curtis, their brother, would you?"

"One of them." He agreed with a small nod. "How are they?"

"Um… Not good I'm afraid, one of them is in surgery and they've both been unconscious since your uncle brought them in."

Looking over at my older brother I saw his expression mirrored my own confusion. "Uncle?" I asked. When our parents had died there had been no other relatives to take us in, that's why if we ever got into any legal trouble Ponyboy and I would be put into a home.

"Yeah, he's the one who gave us permission to start with the operation."

"You mean on Johnny?" Steve asked.

The girl shook her head, "No on the Curtis boy," She looked at Darry. "Your uncle dropped both of the boys off, and gave the doctor permission for the surgery on your brother. Then he said you would be here soon."

"When can we see them?" Dally cut in, his tone hard just like his expression.

"Um… You can see Johnny right now." She said slowly, seeming unnerved as she noticed the tall dark hair juvenile delinquent standing behind us. "But Ponyboy, you'll have to wait for awhile."

"What's the room number?" He asked.

"245"

Nodding Dally walked away. "We'll meet you there, and wait for Ponyboy." Two-Bit said, and then he and Steve started to follow the other teen.

"Soda, why don't you go with them?" Darry suggested, putting a hand on my shoulder. "I've got a few more questions, but you might as well go check on Johnny and wait with the others for Pony."

Reluctantly I nodded my head and started down the hall after the others. In all honestly I would have rather stayed will my older brother to wait, but he didn't want me there while he talked to the nurse. It was probably about the whole uncle thing, which didn't make sense but I didn't see why he wouldn't want me there. Still that was the last thing on my mind at the moment, now that I was alone all I could think about way Ponyboy. He was in surgery right now, for reasons I wasn't even sure yet, and there was nothing I could do but sit and wait for him. He had told me he was going out with Johnny and Curly for a few hours tonight, but I never thought this would happen. Curly always did seem to get into trouble, and when he was around Pony did do some stupid things but nothing that had gotten himself this hurt.

I could feel my chest getting tighter with every breath, as I struggled to control my emotions. Only now was the full impact of the situation hitting me, before I had been worried to the point of almost throwing up, now I was panicking.

At the end of the hall way there was an elevator and a single door leading outside. I needed to calm down some before going to meet the others so I continued ahead, and out into the night air. There was a small but chilling breeze that made goose bumps rise on my skin as I sat down on the cement leading against the hard surface of the building. Pulling me knees up to my chest I wrapped my arms loosely around them and rested my chin on my right kneecap.

Steve's POV

Sitting down on one of the uncomfortable chairs at the small wooden table I dealt out a game of cards between me and Two-Bit. There had been a pack left in the room, and it seemed like on okay way to pass the time, considering we were in a hospital with the two youngest in our group pretty banged up. Dally was sitting beside Johnny's bed with an emotionless face, and his hands curling and uncurling into fist on top of the chair arms. He was starring at the unconscious kid, every now and again blinking, but never looking away. Two-Bit had agreed with me that it would be in all of our best interest to not bother Dally (since the two of us weren't really looking for a beating) and that left us to cards.

I couldn't help but keep looking over at Johnny every five minutes or so; the parts of him that we could see where cut up, and bruised, and there was a white cast on this left arm, matching the bandage on his head where there was a gash.

It was only a good fifteen minutes at most before Darry joined us in the room, and to my surprise he was alone.

"Where's Soda?" I asked.

"He's support to be here." Darry sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "I better go look for him."

"Naw, that's okay," I stood up and stretched. "I'll go find him, could use the walk anyhow."

Agreeing, Darry nodded. "How's Johnny."

"Well uh, he seems to be okay." Two-Bit answered. "I mean he hasn't woken up or nothing, but he's alive."

"He'll be fine." Dally growled.

"Yeah, they both will be." I said stepping out of the room to find my best friend. I all over the halls and even in the waiting room but couldn't find him, so eventually I decided to take a break and go outside to have a smoke. Heading out of one of the side doors at the end of a row of rooms I took a deep breath of the fresh air, hospitals always had a stuffy medicated smell that made me feel slightly drowsy.

"How's Johnny?" Looking over to my right I saw Soda sitting on the ground, his arms wrapped around his knees and his chin resting on one. The last time I had seen him in that position was right after his parent's funeral, he had locked himself in his room and would only let me in. Together we had stayed in there for a good twenty-four hours, just sitting in silence and sometimes playing very slow games of cards. When he was finally able to talk about it all he could say was he was sorry and that he missed them. After that night he had started to recover, at least enough to come out of his room and hangout with the gang, and as every day past he became a little less unhappy until he was himself again.

"He hasn't woken up yet, but he seems okay." I said walking over and taking a seat beside him.

"What about Pony..?"

"No news yet."

With a sigh he lifted his head up and looked over at me. I gave him a half smile then pulled a half used pack of cigarettes from my jeans pocket along with a lighter. I offered him one and wasn't surprised when he took it. We sat there until we had each smoked two rounds then I got to my feet. Reaching down a hand to help him I pulled Soda to his and we walked back inside.

Everyone was still in Johnny's room when we got there, plus the nurse from earlier, and when she saw us she gave a small smile before leaving.

"You doing good?" Two-Bit asked, Soda.

He nodded, with a half hearted smile. "Yeah, I'm okay."

"Where have you been?" Darry gazed out the window, seeming lost in thought.

"Just outside." I answered for Soda.

"We huh just got some news about Ponyboy."

Hope built up in my best friends eyes as he looked at his older brother. "And?"

"And there were complications."

_**There it is folks, hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'll get the next one up at some point, HOPEFULLY soon. Until then thank you all for reading and click that review button down there and give me your thoughts. **_


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